Open Thread: Win a trip to Cooperstown

So here’s a fun little contest for your open thread tonight. The Cooperstown Cookie Company has announced a sweepstakes that will run through April 16. The prize? A free two-night trip to Cooperstown for the winner and a companion. Also included is a membership to the Hall of Fame, meals and some non-baseball- and baseball-related prizes from some of the upstate town’s local merchants.

Entering is easy. Just head on over to this page and take a short survey. More info is available here, and the hat tip for this one goes to David Pinto at Baseball Musings. He took a break from his Sisyphean and alphabetical project of posting a short piece on every single baseball player in the Majors Leagues. For more on Cooperstown and the Hall, check out the photos from Mike’s recent visit.

In local action tonight, the Senators are visiting the Rangers at the Garden, and the Devils are facing off against the Coyotes at 9 p.m. MTV is airing two episodes of the critically-acclaimed Jersey Shore this evening, and Conan should be in fine form again come 11:35 p.m. Be good to each other.

Jersey Shore is actually pretty cool. It looked dumb at first but seeing my first episode last week with one of the guys beating the ever living crap out of a random stranger and Snooki getting punched everywhere made me love the show instantly.

Oh I know. I was just giving my opinion since I hear a lot of bad rep for the show.

JMK The Overshare

As a New Jerseyian, I’m used to hearing people absolutely crap on the state, which to me, is somewhat unjustified. Sure, there are parts that are fairly unattractive, like all of the cities, the Meadowlands, anything near Newark, Sleazeside Heights (where the ocean is polluted by needles and Axe Body Spray), but I rarely see guidos. Almost never. Well, not ones that overtly douchey. And I’m from the area where The Real Housewives of New Jersey are.

I’m not going to sit here and proclaim Jersey as the greatest state ever, but it’s not nearly as bad as people think it is. The one’s who really hate on it are the ones who have been around the airport and Turnpike. The southern part with the horse farms are nice, some parts of the Shore are great, affluent suburbs with top-notch school systems centered around two of the largest cities in the country, and an unreal amount of sluts. There are some pluses.

Oh, and we have more assholes per capita than any other state. Suck on that, Massachusetts.

Sure, there are parts that are fairly unattractive, like all of the cities, the Meadowlands, anything near Newark, Sleazeside Heights (where the ocean is polluted by needles and Axe Body Spray), but I rarely see guidos. Almost never. Well, not ones that overtly douchey. And I’m from the area where The Real Housewives of New Jersey are.

I’m a New Jersyian too and I agree. It does get somewhat of a bad rep and sure it’s undeserved. And as you said I hardly see guidos in my area. I see a lot of Italians but not any actual stereotypical guidos.

I hope that the biggest story is STILL the Jets winning the Super Bowl.

Realistically?

Something unforseen.

JMK The Overshare

No way. The biggest story is which one of the Jersey Shore kids get their own VH1 reality love show. My money’s on The Situation, but I suppose JWOWW has a good shot, too.

Jets? Hah!

No surprise for the Yanks ST story. It, again, will be Joba v. Phil.

pete

the most exciting part of ST will likely be the extended (in relation to previous years) amount of time that Jesus spends there. Other than that, not much that comes out of ST, other than players getting up to game-speed, really means anything. Joba vs. Phil is (presumably) not the kind of thing that should be decided in ST. And Grit vs. whomever is not going to be decided in full at any point during the season, let alone in the spring. I’m fairly certain it’ll be a year-long “competition” wherein whichever of the two is playing the best is the starter, and when things are equal, matchups will determine who plays. The rest of those may be “stories” that get written for ESPN or yankees.com or the likes, but there really isn’t much to discuss in regards to Javy/Granderson

11 million dollars? Even if they pick up 9 million and we give them a box of balls it wouldn’t be “cheap.”

Jose

He would be cheap, that is the whole idea of being released. You are freeing up a roster spot for nothing in return.

Remember when the Tigers released Gary Sheffield? They still payed him his $14 million salary, while the Mets signed him to a $400k contract.

JMK The Overshare

Only if we can pay for Bobby Bonilla ’til 2030.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

If they go through with it and release him, then hell fucking yeah bring him in. Zero risk, super easy to back out of.

Mater of all Trades

Mike Axisa = Voice of Reason.

Rocky Road Redemption (formerly RAB poster)

This has to be posted. Has to.

Don’t Argue With The Gay Flight Attendant

My flight was being served by an obviously gay flight attendant, who seemed to put everyone in a good mood as he served us food and drinks.

As the plane prepared to descend, he came swishing down the aisle and told us “Captain Marvey has asked me to announce that he’ll be landing the big scary plane shortly, so lovely people, if you could just put your trays up, that would be super.”

On his trip back up the aisle, he noticed an extremely well-dressed and exotic young woman hadn’t moved a muscle. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me over those big brute engines but I asked you to raise your trazy-poo, so the main man can pitty-pat us on the ground.”

She calmly turned her head and said, “In my country, I am called a Princess and I take orders from no one.”

To which the flight attendant replied, without missing a beat, “Well, sweet-cheeks, in my country I’m called a Queen, so I outrank you. Tray up, Bitch.”

Who’s more valuable: Berkman or Morales. That said, would you trade either for Verlander? If so, who?

DP

Berkman or Morales?*

JMK The Overshare

I’m going to guess you’re referring to Kendry Morales. Berkman plays the more valuable position and has a larger sample of quality years, but Kendry is younger and should be more productive going forward. He also has a more attractive contract.

Would I trade either for Verlander? Both. Is that even a serious question?

pete

i think you may have missed the “fantasy” part of his question. i still agree, though. A guy who’ll put up a good ERA, challenge for Ws, and prolly lead the league in Ks is worth more than a 1B with good avg and power, since there are more 1Bs who hit for good avg and power than there are Verlander-type pitchers. Felix, Timmy, and that’s pretty much it.

JMK The Overshare

I read fantasy in the context of “this will never happen,” not “fantasy baseball league.”

I don’t play fantasy baseball, I do fantasy dating (I rarely finish “first” in my league, so I have no idea.

they’re about equal. I’d try to trade Berkman, since Kendry can probably give you a higher avg. If whoever’s offering doesn’t go for that, though, there’s nothing wrong w/ trading Kendry for Verlander when you still have Berkman at 1B

DP

They both play 1B. And yes, it’s serious. Verlander is probably due for a WHIP, K, and W regression next year.

pete

I dunno. I’d still go for it. Berkman is getting up there in age and his power might be declining, and Morales is probably due for a regression in avg, and could be in for a big drop in HR. Verlander is pretty much a lock for at least 200 Ks, and is probably going to maintain that mid-3s ERA in the AL-Central. WHIP may go up a tad, Ws may go down, but you’d be buying super-high on Morales when there are quite a few quality 1Bs available in every draft.

If this is already your team, then certainly offer one of them for Verlander if the person is willing to accept it – they both play 1B, so you can lose one and still have a high 2nd tier 1B left. That’s a no-brainer to me.

DP

Well it’s a keeper league- I’m probably keeping McCann, Morales, Phillips, Rollins, Wright, Sizemore, Berkman, Gallardo (unless I make a trade). Very hitting heavy as you can see.

For 1 year I’d go with Berkman, definitely more of a sure thing. Fun fact, Berkman had a career low BABIP last year and still out ops+’d Morales, while doing it with a much higher OBP. I know those likely aren’t stats in your league, but I think they do say something about what Berkman will do in 2010.

JMK The Overshare

Here’s a question for you guys.

What’s the most depressing place you’ve been to within the United States? For me, it’s Gary, Indiana.

Go.

http://www.secondavenuesagas.com Benjamin Kabak

Detroit, Michigan or Manning, South Carolina.

Marcus

Manning, SC? How in the world did you end up there?

http://www.secondavenuesagas.com Benjamin Kabak

Hurricane evacuation from Pawleys Island in 2004. We had to drive inland. That’s where we wound up. It was pretty desolate.

Steve H

Utica, NY. When I was a kid my dad left me in the car (which didn’t lock) with my baby sister at a convenience store in Utica, I was scared shitless, and it was the middle of the day.

JMK aka The Overshare’s Garden Apartment Complex

Ever see a movie called Driving Mona? It’s a terrible movie, but it does illustrate how freakin’ weird and white trash upstate New York is.

If that is the most depressing place you have been to, you must not travel very much.

Meat Loaf

I just finished a book on the education system in Syracuse, and it explains how Syracuse has absolutely fallen apart. Shes right… it does suck.

DP

Trinidad in DC. (You said place, not city)

vin

Lawton, OK

I had the misfortune of going into the Wal-Mart there, too. Unfortunately we needed to get groceries, and if you need groceries in Lawton, you got to the Wal-Mart. Spending a few days in that town probably took years off my life.

Stormrider6

I’ve been there – it’s right outside of Fort Sill, where I went to Basic Training. Even after 9 weeks of seclusion, I realized that place was a hole. However, its still not as bad as Binghamton, NY, where I grew up. Second least amount of sunshine in the US, no economy, and cold miserable winters.

pat

9th Ward NOLA

JMK The Overshare

Once Tiger Woods returns from a local Bennigan’s, ho in tow, he plans on DONATING A HOSPITAL TO HAITI?!

Makes sense to me. Even if it’s just buying some goodwill, it’s still going to be a ridiculously huge help, whatever the intentions are. Good for him, maybe he can go to that hospital for his next STD test.

JMK aka The Overshare’s Garden Apartment Complex

Exactly. He probably doesn’t give a shit about them, but hey, if it helps, it helps.

The Joba vs Hughes competition looks to be about as legit as the Nady vs Swisher “competition” from last year. I seriously doubt Joba won’t get the #5 spot in the rotation.

-Joba has a deeper repertoire than Hughes, who is still pretty much a 2 pitch pitcher.

-Joba will have no innings restrictions whereas Phil will be at 140-150.

-Joba has more upside as a starter

-As great as Phil was last year, he still had some trouble with Lefty batters. That will be a bigger issue for him as a starter than it was as a reliever.

If all things are relatively equal, it will go to Joba. If Hughes pitches a little better than Joba does, Joba will still get the #5 spot. Hughes would have to absolutely blow Joba away in order to even make this a tough call.

Jose

Over/Under: Phil Hughes starts 8 games next year

http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/ Nostra-Artist

I wouldn’t be shocked if the two get flipped mid-season, assuming Joba is pitching poorly like he did down the stretch last year. All I’m saying is Joba has the cards stacked in his favor.

Teix is the Man

Agreed on all counts…I just hope Hughes gets enough starts to remain a starter.

http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/ Nostra-Artist

He could relieve for all of next year and still be a starter down the road, they’re not mutually exclusive. That’s a false either/or being presented by those who want him to start.

He’s still only 23 years old, there’s plenty of time for him to become a starter, and his arm may benefit by keeping his innings down at this age.

JMK aka The Overshare’s Garden Apartment Complex

It would also be one more year he doesn’t build up his arm or develop a third pitch, which reduces his chance of becoming an effective ML starter.

Mmmmmm. . I dunno. I thought his struggles in the post season had more to do with the same old problem with Phil, that he was simply trying too hard.

One of these days, Phil is going to figure out that instead of showing your best fastball every time you throw it, it’s more effective if you save it for when you’re ahead in the count. Set the hitter up with a few lesser fastballs that you place somewhere that he can’t hurt you on. Less is more.

11:49am: Ben Sheets will throw for teams Tuesday at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, reports ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian. Said Sheets: “They’re going to like what they see.” Kurkjian indicates six to ten teams have expressed interest, the Cubs included. Kurkjian believes a one-year deal with incentives is in order. He says to “keep an eye on Seattle,” given Jack Zduriencik’s familiarity with Sheets. The Mariners were first connected to Sheets on December 11th by Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

Kurkjian talked to Sheets about his year off from baseball, after the righty had flexor tendon surgery in February. Sheets feels “refreshed” and “fantastic,” and seems raring to go. He thinks he can regain his old form, adding “Watch, I’ll show ’em.”

I wouldn’t expect him to say anything else, but in his case I believe it. His comments tie in to his huge asking price, the surgery was the kind that pitchers bounce back from well, and you get the impression he’s going to have a big season for someone.

If Jake Z. has the inside track on signing a “rejuvenated” Sheets , the Mariners won’t need much more offense than what’s on the team now to take the AL West crown from the Angels. What an off-season would that be for Seattle …

http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/ Nostra-Artist

Yeah. Throw in the awful off season the Angels have had and you have to make them faves in the AL West.

countryclub

Adding my 2 cents to the previous thread:

If you just look at Ripken’s SS years, Jeter has a much higher avg, much higher OBP & a barley higher SLG. And even though Cal is considered more of a power hitter, he only averaged a few more hr’s per year and just 4 more rbi per year.

With Jose Valverde signing the with the Tigers, the #19 pick of the first round goes to the perpetually cheap-ass Astros. Well, this bums me out. With the 20th pick of the draft, the RS are now guaranteed to sign the next Porcello or Jacob Turner should one of similar ilk emerge.

The Tigers at least were good to keep a Turner and Porcello away from the Red Sox. I just don’t see why the Tigers needed to sign a closer of Valverde’s quality, when the team’s 2008 draft pick (ryan perry) could’ve helped fortify the back-end. Why give up the 20th pick??

http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/ Nostra-Artist

Don’t be so sure about the Astros. McLayne announced the other day that the team is up for sale, and a new owner will likely want to come in and spend some cash.

Reggie C.

Until stewardship of the ballclub changes hands and a new vision of rebuilding is actually communicated, there’s no reason to think that the ‘Stros are going to move away from its stance of adhering to MLB slot recommendations.

The RS clearly had a good day.

http://www.twitter.com/james_dasilva James daSilva

The Cooperstown Cookie Company makes some good stuff. It’s over-the-top with the baseball themes, but hey, it is Cooperstown.

Kind of disappointing that I couldn’t find out about this from my old employer, the daily paper closest to Cooperstown. The locals aren’t in love with the crowds the Hall brings, but still, it’s a local startup done good. There aren’t many in upstate New York, as you can guess.

Cooperstown’s definitely worth a visit. Ignore most of the rest of the area, but check it out.

As crazy as it sounds, I was looking over Mantle’s stats, and he’s better than I remember. Over a 10 year stretch, he led the league in OPS+ 8 times. The 2 times he didn’t he ops+’d 195 and 222. He led the league in OPS+ in 1959, yet managed to finish 17th in the MVP voting. Because he only knocked in 100 runs 4x, I think Mantle, believe it or not, was likely underrated in his time. He should have won the MVP in both ’60 and ’61 hands down over Maris, and probably should have won several more. The sabermetric community of today would absolutely love him as a player, and due to his high strikeout totals, and low RBI totals, was probably not loved as much by the old curmudgeons as he should have been. His worst career ops+ was 117, as a 19 year old, his next worst was 137. Wow.

http://www.retire21.org Mike R. – Retire 21

Add to that the fact that he seemed to be a plus defender in CF and you have my argument for why he’s one of the greatest players ever.

pat

If I had to build a team and could use any player in Yankee history I’d take him first, over the Babe.

Trent

Who would be your catcher. Yogi or Dickey?

pat

Tough choice but I’d go with Yogi. Dickey has him beat in OBP and OPS+ but Yogi had almost twice as many HR and played many more games per season.

To be honest, they’d both be admirable backups to THE JESUS.

Steve H

I’d go Babe first, he was hitting more HR’s than whole teams, for years at a time. Though Mantle would probably be my 2nd pick (non-Melvin division of course).

pat

You can’t really go wrong with either. Their b-ref pages are just ludicrous to look at. Straight up Nintendo numbers.

Steve H

Yeah, half the page is bold, ridiculous.

The amazing thing about Babe is he hit more Hr’s on the road than at home in his career, so the whole short porch argument gets thrown out pretty quickly. Too bad those idiot Sox had to have him pitching all those years, his numbers would be even more ridiculous. He lead the league in HR’s his last 2 seasons with the Sox, and still managed to win 22 games.

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The Gleyber Torres Watch

Gleyber's season is over. He suffered a torn left (non-throwing) elbow ligament on a play at the plate on June 17th and had Tommy John surgery on June 21st. He is expected to be ready in time for Spring Training 2018. The Prospect Watch Curse strikes again!